Mended Hearts program helping cardiac patients

PORTSMOUTH — Eleven years ago Richard Snowden was on vacation in Jamaica when he felt the classical "elephant on my chest" symptom of a heart attack.

Suzanne Laurent

PORTSMOUTH — Eleven years ago Richard Snowden was on vacation in Jamaica when he felt the classical "elephant on my chest" symptom of a heart attack.

Luckily for him, there were three physicians staying in his hotel, and they quickly got him on a plane to New York. From there, Snowden was able to come home to Portsmouth to have bypass surgery at Portsmouth Regional Hospital.

Snowden, now 69, was physically fit, didn't smoke and ate healthy foods. But he had a family history of heart disease.

Fast forward five years, and he was called by the hospital's cardiology department when it was starting up a local chapter of the Mended Hearts program.

"We had to do a lot of paperwork to become a chapter of Mended Hearts," Snowden said. "It was lengthy and laborious with many rules and regulations."

The Portsmouth chapter currently has 30 members who visit cardiac patients before and after surgery to talk about their own experience and to encourage the patients to follow up with cardiac rehabilitation and lifestyle changes.

"We never give medical advice, just support and hope," said Snowden, who is on the chapter's management team. "Our mission is to be a support for patients and their families. It is not for socializing or raising money."

Snowden went even a step further than most volunteers.

"I used to be a science teacher," he said. "I asked my surgeon, Dr. (Robert) Helm, if I could watch a bypass surgery."

The cardiothoracic surgeon agreed and Snowden watched a six-hour procedure on a young woman.

"You know, this procedure is routine for the doctors, but it's not routine for the patients," Snowden said.

Snowden, who now works as a management consultant, recalled a recent day while he was making his cardiac patient visits.

"There was a woman in her hospital room, all dressed and ready to leave," he said. "I talked with her for over an hour. It took me a long time to convince her to have the surgery."

Snowden said he finally asked her, "Why do you have this death wish?"

"That got her attention," he said. "I told her the doctor made it clear to her that she had a blocked artery. She decided to stay."

Snowden said sometimes the volunteers find that families are more stressed than the patient.

"Recovery from heart surgery is not a linear process," he said. "Often you take one step forward and two back. I tell them, it's all normal."

He talked about depression.

"I was never depressed in my life, but about a month after my surgery I felt it," Snowden said. "I know what they are feeling. They sometimes feel that they are less than a whole person."

Mended Hearts was founded by Dr. Dwight E. Harken, the pioneer of heart surgery. In January 1951, Harken asked Doris Silliman, one of the first 50 patients to ever have heart surgery, and three other post-surgical heart patients to meet at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, where he was chief of thoracic surgery.

The patients spoke of their new feeling of well-being, their plans and hopes for the future — and with renewed happiness, they spoke of their "mended hearts." They realized how wonderful it would be to provide support and help others facing the same experience.

With the assistance of Harken, they formed an organization, wrote up a charter and planned their membership contacts with the aid of the hospital workers. They called themselves the Mended Hearts.

Recognized for its role in facilitating a positive patient-care experience, Mended Hearts has been aligned with the American College of Cardiology.

There are more than 300 local chapters and satellites nationwide, and partners with 460 hospitals and rehabilitation clinics.

Portsmouth Regional Hospital's chapter is one of the top chapters in the country in terms of the amount of visits its members make to patients undergoing heart surgery.

"We're there six days a week on a rotating basis," Snowden said. "We try to match up people to visit by age and gender and other things they may have in common.

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